


Felix and Lysithea and the case of the mistaken identity

by idanato



Series: The Darkest Mage Timeline [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Gen, Pre-Time Skip, Strong Language, idiots solving mysteries, scooby doo style
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-05 12:53:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21208856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idanato/pseuds/idanato
Summary: Felix and Lysithea team up to prove that Hubert is the death knight. High jinks ensue, and they get in over their heads.





	1. Death Knight in the...men's sauna?

Felix was alone again, finally. The training grounds had begun to clear out around dinner, and after that there had been a slow trickling out until only he remained. Felix preferred the silence. He could focus completely and lose himself, even if only for a little while. When he had exhausted himself enough to fall asleep, Felix finally put away his equipment.

The monastery grounds were eerily quiet. Many students found the empty darkness unsettling, but Felix quite liked the monastery at night. He didn’t have to talk to anyone and that suited him just fine. He pulled himself up the flights of stairs to the sauna, and dared himself to look forward to the reward of scraping off all the sweat and grime.

He wondered what time it was. Usually there were a few students lingering around before bedtime, but the area was completely desolate. Felix rarely enjoyed the chance to relax totally alone in here.

As he walked into the changing area to get undressed, Felix could hear someone in the far back corner of the room. Felix paused to listen. Between the stillness of the night and the strange rumors circulating about a mysterious scythe wielding villain terrorizing the local village, he felt a little uneasy not knowing who was in the room with him. He knew he was being paranoid, but it couldn’t hurt just to verify the Death Knight was not in the sauna before getting undressed. Felix crept quietly down the aisle to peek.

He felt stupid for allowing himself to feel like an unlucky character in one of Mercedes ghosts stories as he turned the corner, only to find a student shaving. His relief was momentary as his eyes fixated on a series of strange scars running down the student’s back. These weren’t scrapes or bruises from training; they looked _ritualistic_. Hubert made eye contact with him in the mirror and looked as surprised as Felix felt.

Hubert grabbed his undershirt and pulled it on. Felix caught sight more scars across Hubert’s torso, and even the black ink of a decidedly evil looking tattoo through the mirror, before Hubert had gotten his shirt completely on.

“Were you spying on me?” demanded Hubert as he turned around.

“No,” said Felix. He folded his arms and narrowed his stare on Hubert. “What are you doing in the sauna at this time of night?”

Hubert picked up his folding razor, “_Shaving_. I realize you may not have started yet, but some of us have to every day.”

Felix frowned, but felt pretty sheepish, “I heard a noise, and with all the rumors going around, I wanted to make sure it was someone who actually belonged in here.”

Hubert looked at him skeptically. “You... you thought the Death Knight would be using the men’s sauna?”

Felix flushed with embarrassment, but doubled down. “You have to consider all possibilities.”

Hubert rolled his eyes and returned to face the mirror to finish shaving. “Don’t worry, the Death Knight and I had coffee the other day, he said he wasn’t interested in angry little boys from Faerghus, not his type.”

Felix glared at Hubert before stomping back to his locker. As embarrassed as he felt, the sinister tattoo and the scars though kept running through his mind. Felix found himself increasingly consumed with figuring out what they were about. He was also bothered by the joke Hubert had made about the Death Knight, it didn’t feel like a joke to Felix. If anyone at Garreg Mach was likely to be the Death Knight it was Hubert, tall, creepy, lance using bastard that he was.

Laying in bed, Felix ran through what he knew about the Black Eagles. They were a house that hated hard; it didn’t seem like any of them got along. Felix understood why Dimitri was disappointed that the new professor had chosen to lead that house of theirs, leaving them stuck with Hanneman, but Felix thought it made sense. Those Black Eagle assholes needed all the help they could get. It was a miracle none of them had died given how poorly that house coordinated it’s offense and defense. While the Golden Deers were headstrong and often did their own thing, they at least got along and had each other’s backs. Felix was pretty sure the Black Eagles were as likely to kill each other as an enemy.

In comparison, the Blue Lions looked like a happy family. This frustrated Felix to no end. They had their share of problems, but these seemed small next to the colossal disaster brewing in the next homeroom over. Sylvain had even had the gall to suggest that Felix’s attitude made him a natural fit for the Black Eagles, and had on more than one occasion tried to suggest that Petra or Dorothea should swap places with Felix.

***

Felix made sure Tomas was nowhere to be found as he perused the library. When he could be safe that no one was going to bother him, Felix pulled down the volumes on the Empire’s nobility. In big text there was a warning that students were not, under any circumstances, to use or modify the text in any way.

Felix scoffed and flipped to the chapter on the Vestras. There was suspiciously little information. It didn’t take long for Felix to read the scant page over several times. It did note that they were in charge of official rituals and ceremonies, but the details were vague.

“Ah hem,” coughed an annoyed voice. “I don’t think you’re supposed to be looking at that.”

Felix looked up to see Lysithea reading over his shoulder, “Eh, the Vestras, nasty people. The prime minister gets all the publicity, but you know that nothing happens in the Empire without Marquis von Vestra’s say so.” She seemed to know an awful lot about Empire business.

“There’s almost nothing in this book about them,” complained Felix as he hurried to put it back.

“Of course not. They don’t like to be seen,” said Lysithea. She folded her arms and continued to impatiently look at Felix, “Well?”

“Well what?”

“Why are you so interested?”

Felix didn’t intend to be interrogated by this pipsqueak, and changed the subject, “Hey, you’re good at reason and research, can I ask you about a symbol I saw?”

He could tell he’d hooked her curiosity, “I suppose I have time for that.”

Felix pulled out a scribbling of the tattoo he’d done from memory and passed it to Lysithea. Her face changed immediately and he could pick up the simmering anger in her voice, “Where did you see this?”

Felix looked around to make sure no one was too close and motioned for her to sit at the table with him, “Hubert has a tattoo of this.”

Her pinkish eyes grew wide with surprise. “This is a symbol of dark magic, _serious_ dark magic. As in, shit even I won’t touch.”

Felix took back the drawing and folded it up. “You do dark magic?”

Lysthia shrugged, “I dabble.” She narrowed her gaze, “Enough to know that if that is what you saw, then Hubert is worse than I thought and needs to be dealt with.”

“Dealt with?”

“We’ll have to get proof,” mused Lysithea. “We should follow him around for a few days to be sure before we confront him.”

Felix stared at her, “_We_? We are not doing anything. I’ll handle this.”

Lysithea laughed at him, “With your little sword? Please. Come on, we should plan this stake out somewhere less public.” She began to walk towards the door and Felix scrambled after her.

They found an empty classroom and Lysithea drew a rough map of the monastery on the chalkboard. “Where did you see this tattoo?”

“In the sauna,” said Felix. He pointed to the left side of his chest, “It was about here.”

“Ugh, he wasn’t even trying to hide it,” said Lysithea.

“Well, I sort of spied on him,” admitted Felix.

“Whatever you’re into,” smirked Lysithea as she marked off the saunas.

“It was an accident!” said Felix crossly as she marked off the 2nd floor dorm.

“Your room is near his right? You should see if you can get a look inside.”

“His door is always closed,” said Felix.

Lysithea rolled her eyes, “That’s why we find out when he's in class, and break in.”

Felix was all for collecting information, but breaking and entering into Hubert’s room seemed like something they could get into serious trouble for. “Let’s just start with basic surveillance,” suggested Felix.

“Okay, at least then we can get the Eagles class schedule doing that,” conceded Lysithea. She was marking off more places that Hubert was often seen, such as the library, and those where he was never seen, like the Cathedral.

“Hey, I know this might sound crazy,” started Felix. “But do you think that Hubert could be the Death Knight?”

Lysithea paused as she considered it. “He does fit the build I suppose, and I know he trains with lances.” She rubbed her chin and narrowed her eyes, “And if anyone’s going to roam around offing people at night, it’s Hubert.” Felix felt a little less ridiculous and a little more confident about his theory.

Felix pointed to the training grounds on Lysithea’s map, “The Blue Lions and Black Eagles are scheduled for co-training tomorrow. Maybe I can spy on his fighting technique, see if he’s any good.”

Lysithea nodded enthusiastically, “We should get a sense of his style, it will be easier to disable him if we know how he fights.”

Felix winced as she said disable. “Again, basic surveillance first.”

“You’re such a baby,” muttered Lysithea. “On our day off we’ll meet at breakfast and follow him from there. Maybe we can catch him in the act of something sinister.”

“I use my free day to train --”

“Fine, I’ll follow him,” said Lysithea. “Since playing with your sword is so much more important.”

Felix gave an exasperated sigh. There was no way he was letting her follow Hubert alone; she seemed obsessed and ready to take drastic action. “I’ll be there.”


	2. Split up and search for clues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felix and Lysithea split up to gather clues about their would-be death knight. Felix engages in a disastrous four way sparring session, and Lysithea finds out that while she is being assigned 500 word essays on how fire makes her feel, the Black Eagles are getting actual reason homework.

Felix tried to casually study the Black Eagles students as he practiced his sword swings. Edelgard was sparring with the professor; both of them were looking extremely focused. Felix didn’t care much for Edelgard, she struck him as uptight and icy. He was however tentatively interested in the professor and her mercenary skills, she seemed like she’d be a real challenge to spar. The rest of the house was decidedly not as inspiring. Ferdinand was taking things very seriously against Hubert, who looked bored out of his mind as he deflected von Aegir’s frenzied offensive. Bernadetta was at the archery range, taking great pains to be as far away from everyone else as possible. Linhardt was reading a book on the bleachers. Petra was doing a serious number of pull ups, and Dorothea was counting for her instead of practicing with her sword. Caspar was the only one of them who ever actively trained with the Blue Lions when they were forced in here together.

“Caspar, spar with me,” barked Felix at the short black eagles student.

“Sure,” said Caspar enthusiastically as Felix put on the padded gloves. Caspar happily punched as Felix blocked.

“Can I ask you about someone in your house?” asked Felix between hits.

“I already told Dorothea to leave you alone,” started Caspar.

“No, what’s the deal with Hubert?”

Caspar laughed and gave a nervous look over towards Ferdinand and Hubert as he continued to hit. His voice became uncharacteristically quiet, “Uh, well, what specifically did you want to know?”

“Why is he...so weird?”

“Weird is the von Vestra way,” explained Caspar. “Well I guess I’ve only met his father; Marquis von Vestra can be extremely friendly, but then he does things that,” Caspar paused uncomfortably, “Well things that aren’t especially nice. My dad says it’s like the whole family is one thing on the surface, and totally different inside. Like, Hubert’s super polite, even when he’s insulting you.”

Felix continued to block, knowing that Caspar would just let his mouth run if left uninterrupted. True to form, Caspar continued, “I think he’d prefer to just be a mage full time, but look at him, dude’s a monster!” Caspar paused and nodded over to Hubert almost admiringly, “I wish I was that big. Sure he’s no Raph or Dedue, but I think he could totally wreck Lorenz, maybe even Sylvain. I mean look at his wingspan!”

Felix scoffed at the thought of Sylvain actually losing to Hubert of all people. He paused as he reconsidered, if Hubert really was the Death Knight, then maybe he could actually wreck Sylvain. Felix and Caspar broke to trade places. Felix pondered the information as he punched, “Do you think he’s dangerous?”

Caspar laughed, “No. Hubert likes to appear threatening, and he’s a total dick, but I know if I’m in a pinch he’ll have my back without any questions.” Caspar laughed more, “Kind of like you Felix.”

Felix growled as he ‘accidentally’ missed the mitt and punched Caspar in the shoulder. They stopped to get some water, and Felix saw his in for getting a first hand account of how Hubert fought. He walked over to Dorothea and regarded her sword, unimpressed, “Do you even know how to use that or is it just a fashion accessory to you?”

Dorothea rolled her eyes at him, “Oh so now you want to talk to me?” She snorted a laugh and turned back to Petra.

“I’m just impressed that’s all,” said Felix coolly.

Dorothea’s indifferent gaze came back to him, “I’ll bite, what are you impressed by?”

“How someone like you managed to get into the officer’s academy with no weapons skills, and continues to skate by,” said Felix. He raised his voice, “I didn’t want to believe the rumors that you slept your way into this school, but I guess it must be true.”

Dorothea looked absolutely livid, “Are you _trying_ to pick a fight with me?”

People were stopping now to watch the interaction. Felix folded his arms, “Nah, I don’t think it would be fair to you, it would be over before it began.” He paused, he had everyone’s attention. “Unless you want to do a partner’s match.”

“A double date?” teased Dorothea as she regarded her dull training blade as if imagining all the places she wanted to shove it into him, “Who are you bringing?”

“Sylvain,” said Felix. His trap was laid; everyone knew Hubert despised Sylvain.

Sylvain looked at him, and then looked at Dorothea. He eagerly picked up his lance, “Well I suppose I can’t say no to a doubles match with such a pretty lady.”

“Save it,” said Dorothea as she surveyed her house mates.

Ferdinand had practically run to her side, “I would be honored to be your partner.” This was the second piece of Felix’s gambit; Dorothea hated Ferdinand.

“Buzz off Ferdie,” said Dorothea dismissively. “Hubie, will you join me?”

Hubert regarded Sylvain with a cool dislike. “Gladly,” he said in his creepy tenor.

Sylvain looked nonplussed as he turned to Felix, “Okay master of ceremonies, what are our rules for this little shindig?”

Felix wanted the most honest assessment of Hubert’s fighting, “No rules.”

Dorothea and Sylvain exchanged nervous glances but Hubert didn’t question it. Dorothea put a hand on her hip, “How are we going to know who wins?”

“Last person standing,” said Felix as he lunged at Dorothea.

People sprang out of the way as the little match took over the center of the training ground. Mercie and Annie were excited watching and cheering from the bleachers. Dedue and Dimitri stood looking annoyed that they had just lost their space. Edelgard and Byleth had merely moved to the periphery to continue training.

Sylvain was loose and cool as he teased Hubert with a few jabs. Felix was sure the two had never sparred together, and neither appeared to be eager to test out the other’s skills. Felix drove hard against Dorothea, but she honestly surprised him. He thought he could get her out quickly and focus on double teaming Hubert, but Dorothea was holding her own against him. She was completely on the defensive, but she wasn’t half bad for someone who rarely practiced.

The Blue Lions would cheer a bit when Felix or Sylvain did something especially impressive. Only Petra and Caspar showed any excitement from the Black Eagles. Ferdinand was looking sour from not having been included, and Bernadetta was hiding behind him, appearing too afraid to watch. Linhardt hadn’t even looked up from his book.

Felix heard Sylvain yelp, and Ingrid shouted out, “That wasn’t fair!”

Felix had to get Dorothea down if he was going to have any shot at actually observing Hubert’s fighting style. He started to really lay into her, and delivered a series of punishing blows that Dorothea struggled to block. She was starting to look nervous so Felix went in for the metaphorical kill by first disarming her with a swift hit to her wrist. A gross cracking noise was quickly followed by Dorothea crying out in pain as her practice sword clanged to the floor. She scrambled to get away from him. He was probably going to look like an asshole in a second as he weaved around to strike her from behind, when from out of nowhere Hubert jumped in and took the hit from the training sword.

The biggest Black Eagle budged slightly from the intense blow, but otherwise hardly reacted to Felix’s hit. Now even Edelgard and Byleth seemed to be paying attention. Felix looked briefly to see why Sylvain wasn’t around and saw the useless ginger hamming up a hurt elbow to get Mercie to heal him. When Felix returned his eyes to Hubert and Dorothea, it was the butt of Hubert’s lance that he saw coming up to meet him.

Felix cursed as he stumbled backward, his nose searing with pain.

Ingrid looked furious with both Hubert and Felix, “You can’t do that while sparring!” It was hard to tell who she was more mad at.

Dimitri interjected, “Professor, don’t you think it’s time to call this off?”

Byleth regarded Felix as he tried to contain the blood presently pouring from his nose, “He didn’t set rules, this is what happens.”

Felix got up and half expected Hubert to come finish him off. Instead Hubert was quietly talking with Dorothea, who looked a little shaken up and was holding her wrist where Felix had struck her. It had begun to swell and was hanging at an uncomfortable angle; Felix felt a little remorse for having hit her as hard as he did. Hubert set aside his lance and performed a clumsy healing spell, causing Dorothea’s eyes to well up with tears as her wrist snapped back into a normal position.

Felix started to get up ready to get back to it, the fight wasn’t technically over. Dorothea looked at him like he was crazy, and then quickly dove behind Hubert as Felix came towards them. Felix went to swing again when one of Hubert’s long arms shot out and grabbed him, forcing the sword from his hand. Felix struggled against the big mage’s unwavering grip. Hubert then looked toward Dimitri and Dedue as if for permission to knock Felix out, which only made the whole thing more humiliating.

“Okay cut it out,” Byleth sighed. She cleared her throat, commanding the attention of the room. “Many of you believe in honor, chivalry,” she paused, “Your enemies don’t. Learn to fight like them and you might learn how to beat them.”

“You’re a jerk,” said Dorothea under her breath to Felix as she pushed past him to go to Linhardt for a proper healing.

“You broke my nose,” managed Felix as Hubert released him.

Hubert regarded him with utter contempt, and pointed at Dorothea on the bleachers, “You insulted her in front of everyone, and broke her wrist.” Hubert dropped his voice so that only Felix could hear him, “The next time you try to hurt someone from my house, physically or otherwise, I’ll do far worse than break your nose.”

Dimitri caught Felix by the arm before he could take a swing at Hubert.

Felix decided not to eat with the Blue Lions that evening. Ingrid and Dimitri were both pissed at him for having started a no rules fight in the first place, and Sylvain was bemoaning his sore elbow to anyone who would listen. Ashe and Dedue had both given Felix disapproving looks but didn’t say anything. Mercie and Annie had abandoned him altogether to go sit with Dorothea, who repeatedly glared at him from across the dining hall.

Lysithea joined him and looked at him dubiously. His nose wasn’t broken anymore but Mercie hadn’t done much to help him with the bruising. “Did you find out anything worthwhile?”

Felix glowered as he sipped his milk. All he had learned was that Hubert had stupidly long arms and wouldn’t be easy to fight head on. Lysithea sipped her tea as she looked at the Black Eagles’ table, “Well everyone’s talking about it, and the consensus is that you were a huge asshole to Dorothea.” She paused, “Claude says you should join the Black Eagle house, you’d fit right in with them.”

It made Felix mad because it was true. “The Black Eagles suck,” said Felix angrily. He didn’t want to join their stupid house.

“Well, we know that attacking him physically is probably a bad idea,” said Lysithea quietly as she eyed where Hubert was sitting with Edelgard. “But maybe I can find out about his magic.”

***

Lysithea dropped her textbooks on the library table to startle Linhardt. “Oh so sorry, did I disturb you?”

Linhardt slowly flipped the page of the text he was reading, “Alas, you’ve caught me in my wakeful period. What do you want?”

“Must I want something just to spend time with you?” asked Lysithea innocently as she took her seat.

Linhardt gave her a quick once over, “No, I suppose not.” He went back to reading. It appeared to be a guide to the fish of Fodlan. Linhardt was taking notes in his flowy, curling script.

“But, seeing as you’re not doing anything important,” began Lysithea. “I was wondering if I could ask you some questions about someone in your house.”

Linhardt gave her a disinterested glare, “Quickly then.”

“I was thinking about studying reason with Hubert,” said Lysithea.

Linhardt made a sound somewhat between a laugh and a yawn, “He’d be delighted I’m sure.” Lysithea couldn’t tell if Linhardt was being sarcastic or not. Linhardt continued, “You can be a fresh body for his book club.”

“He has a book club?” That seemed decidedly un-Hubert like.

“Edelgard insisted he take Thursday nights off,” said Linhardt. “I think she was hoping he’d start dating or make some friends, but well, it’s Hubert so he started a study group instead. He asks Dorothea and me every week, but she only goes when she’s stuck on her homework.”

“Do you ever go?”

Linhardt scoffed, “And give Hubert more opportunities to bother me? No thank you.”

Lysithea took out her own homework, Manuela had given her a tediously simple assignment this week, 500 words on how fire made her feel. She kept asking for something more challenging, but she was still being quizzed on level 1 spells. A study group with actual mages interested in getting better sounded exactly what she needed, “Do you think he would mind if I came?”

“He’ll be in our homeroom from 7 to 9 without fail. I’ll warn you though, it’s better when Hubert just ignores you. Life’s much worse when he’s taken an interest in you.”

That sounded especially sinister to Lysithea. “What exactly do you mean?”

Linhardt sighed with disgust, “He’s _motherly_.”

That was not what Lysithea had been expecting to hear, “I’m sorry?”

Linhardt cleared his throat and did his best impression of the raspy voiced mage, “Indoor voice Caspar, wash your pillowcase Linhardt, eat your vegetables Lady Edelgard, Dorothea did you finish your homework, do you need any help with it?” Linhardt shook his head and returned to his normal airy voice, “He’s supremely annoying, but I suppose he was raised to take care of people whether they like it or not.”

Lysithea digested the new information. “So he just asks you to do your laundry and stuff?”

“It’s nauseating how utterly on top of things he is,” yawned Linhardt.

Lysithea rather thought the Golden Deers could use someone like Hubert managing their house. Her classmates rarely did anything in a timely fashion and it was always chaos when a project was due or chores needed to be completed. Professor Casagranda seemed only to enhance their procrastination with the way she handed out extensions for any excuse and forgot to collect their assignments.

***

Lysithea arrived at the Black Eagles homeroom just after 7, she didn’t want to be too early. Hubert was sitting alone at the table nearest the fireplace pouring over a tome. She set her bag down and pulled out her own reason textbook, “I’m here for your study group.”

Hubert stared at her for a few seconds as if not believing that she was there, and then straightened up, “Uh, welcome.” He gestured to the empty table, “Dorothea and Linhardt might stop by later.”

Lysithea very much doubted that. She looked at the spell Hubert was looking at -- Miasma-- and looked back at him, “So, dark magic, eh?”

Hubert flipped the page to Meteor, “I have an academic interest in it.”

“Hmm,” said Lysithea. “Me too. But only the theory of course.”

“Yes,” agreed Hubert. “Wouldn’t want to break any monastery rules.”

They were silent for a bit. Lysithea pulled out the peace offering she had made up, a delightful assortment of cakes. “I um, I brought some snacks.”

Hubert regarded her, not so much with suspicion, but more confusion, “Did Dorothea invite you to this?”

“No, Linhardt told me about it,” said Lysithea as she pretended to read the entry on Bolganone.

Hubert frowned, “Dorothea never asked anyone, I knew it.” He looked a little more peeved than usual as he focused on his book.

“You know your could have just put up a notice on the bulletin board,” suggested Lysithea.

“Would you have really come if it was me doing the asking?” challenged Hubert. 

The answer was no. Lysithea decided to change the subject, “How long have you been studying reason?”

“A couple years,” said Hubert vaguely. He wasn’t touching the cakes. Lysithea didn’t trust people who didn’t like cake.

“I’m surprised that you don’t focus on it exclusively,” probed Lysithea. “Any reason you use a lance?”

Hubert shrugged, “The professor put me on lances, she suggested something about taking the Dark Knight certification exams.”

“Oh,” said Lysithea excitedly; this was totally evidence he could be the Death Knight. “I suppose you'd want to become a dark mage first, but that would require a dark seal.” She stared intently at him for a reaction.

Hubert looked very focused on his book and made a soft “_mmmhmmm_” noise. Dark seals were incredibly hard to procure, and Seteth had even suggested banning them because of how dangerous they could be.

Lysithea was getting nowhere. “Hypothetically, if a Garreg Mach student wanted to practice some dark magic, how might she, or he, go about doing that?”

“Well, if this is purely theoretical,” began Hubert carefully. “One might argue that the rules of Garreg Mach end at the property line. If one were to, and again, purely in theory, sneak out, they might find a nice forested space to practice some forbidden spells.”

Lysithea nodded along, “How would one go about sneaking out without getting caught?”

Hubert isolated one of the tiny cakes she had brought, “One could befriend the guards with a bribe or two.” He paused and stared at her, “The front gate guard is especially fond of sweet things.”

Lysithea picked up the cake and ate it; she could not stand to see it go to waste. She paged through to Dark Spikes, she was about to ask Hubert what time of day he preferred to sneak out when Dorothea came bustling in.

“Hubie, what the hell is going on in question three, part b?” She slapped her homework on the table.

Lysithea peered over and her jaw dropped. “_That’s_ your reason homework?”

“Yeah and it’s due tomorrow!” Dorothea had done perhaps half of the extremely complicated looking problem set.

Hubert pulled out his own meticulous stack of homework and looked, “Okay, so think about how you want to hold your hands in that scenario.”

Dorothea sat down next to Lysithea and picked up a cake, “Why can’t you just tell me the answer?”

Hubert looked offended, “Then you won’t learn anything.”

Lysithea was reeling from learning that the Black Eagles were getting extremely high level reason assignments while she was being treated like a baby who didn’t know level 1 fire.

“You’re the worst,” said Dorothea as she took back the paper and began to work through the problem out loud.

“You can’t just stand behind me on the battlefield and ask how to cast spells,” said Hubert with annoyance. “You have to memorize them.”

Dorothea rolled her eyes. “Will you at least check over my work?”

“Of course,” said Hubert in an almost pleasant tone as he passed her a textbook turned to the correct page.

“Professor Eisner assigned this to you?” Lysithea was still beside herself with the disparity between the two houses. No wonder she was so far behind.

“Yeah and it takes forever to do,” complained Dorothea.

Hubert chuckled, “You know you could just work through it on Monday with me, it only takes a couple hours.”

“Ew, and do my homework the first day it’s assigned, no,” said Dorothea. She twirled her hair as she scribbled out her response. 

Lysithea quietly put her stupid essay on how fire made her feel back into her bag. “I, I have to go.”

“Oh, right, well feel free to come again,” said Hubert. He politely stood as she got up, and called after her as she left, “Tell your friends, but not Lorenz!”


	3. The Stake Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lysithea and Felix spend their precious free day following Hubert while gathering evidence that he's up to no good

Lysithea and Felix met up as promised at breakfast on their free day. Things had cooled off a bit since the training grounds incident and Felix was no longer getting death stares from every girl on campus. Lysithea had not fully emotionally recovered from the trauma of seeing the Black Eagles homework. Their evidence however was mounting: evil tattoo, weird scars, training to be a dark knight, regularly sneaking from the monastery to practice dark magic, it very clear that if anyone was the Death Knight at Garreg Mach, it was Hubert. Now they just needed to find something to prove it.

“What did you bring with you?” demanded Lysithea as she looked at him unimpressed. “Swords, daggers?”

Felix held up his hands, “I didn’t know I needed anything.”

Lysithea made a disgusted sound, “I at least thought you’d have a knife or something.”

“We’re just watching from a distance,” grumbled Felix.

“Better safe than sorry,” said Lysithea as she pulled out a large serrated hunting knife from her bag. Felix could see Leonie’s initials carved on the handle, and wondered if the mercenary in training had willingly lent it to the tiny psychopath he was spending his day with.

“What the, what else do you have in there?”

Lysithea opened the flap revealing her bag was stuffed with neatly packaged cakes, “Snacks.” She then excitedly fished free a small pair of binoculars, “I also uh, borrowed these opera glasses from Manuela.” He also spied what looked like a gag and a length of rope.

“We’re not going to need all that,” said Felix with exasperation as he pushed his breakfast around his plate.

Lysithea smacked him in the side to get his attention. “He’s on the move,” she hissed.

Hubert was following behind Edelgard towards the busing station and before Felix could react, Lysithea was taking her tray up. She crossed the dining hall with impressive speed and was quickly right behind Hubert. Felix was at a loss; did she not understand leaving distance between yourself and the target?

Felix was relieved to see she had paused long enough for Felix to catch up rather than darting out the door after Edelgard and Hubert. “What the hell were you doing?”

“Smelling him,” said Lysithea as she scribbled notes into her notebook.

“_Why_?” demanded Felix. She was literally insane.

“Dark magic smells like sulfur, it’s so annoying to wash out of your clothes,” explained Lysithea. “Not that uh, I know anything first hand about that.”

“Well, did he smell like sulfur?”

“No,” said Lysithea with disappointment. “I’d describe it as more of a smoky scent, with hints of maple syrup. That’s probably just plain old black magic. I mean the smoke not the maple syrup, I think that was just today’s pancakes—”

“Okay, well, try to keep your distance from now on, come on,” said Felix as he tried his best casual stroll.

“We should have code names,” said Lysithea excitedly.

“But it’s just the two of us, when would we even use them?” said Felix getting confused. Lysithea took a deep breath and then said nothing, clearly she had no idea why they would need code names either.

The two sat on a bench as Edelgard and Hubert went into the Black Eagles homeroom. Hubert came out and put something on the bulletin board before walking over towards the training grounds with his bag over his shoulder. Lysithea rushed over to the bulletin board to read the notice before catching up with Felix. “He’s just advertising his study group,” said Lysithea with disappointment. "He's trying to lure people in with coffee to fuel their all-nighters." 

Felix thought that attending a study group led by Hubert sounded like the most miserable way to spend a Thursday night. He’d rather go to choir practice with Mercedes than do that. “Look, he’s talking with Jeritza,” whispered Felix as they hid behind a bush.

Lysithea pulled out her notebook, “Creepy masked associates, got it.”

They continued to trail him as he walked into the dorm area. They didn’t have to get close to hear Bernadetta frantically screaming for him to go away. Hubert looked mortified as he slid something under her door and high tailed it out of there. Hubert then took a long circuitous route making several mundane stops. Lysithea was recording it all in her notebook.

“So far he’s bothered Bernadetta, looked into the pond, and chatted with the front gate guard,” complained Lysithea. “Maybe he’s hiding bodies in the pond? Maybe the gate guard is in on the scheme! Oh no, what if Bernadetta was a witness and now he’s threatening her?”

“Or maybe we’re wrong, and he’s just really boring,” grumbled Felix. “And I don’t think he was even harassing Bernadetta, at least not on purpose.”

Hubert eventually stopped to appreciate the view from the bridge for a long time while Lysithea and Felix hung back trying to spy from behind a hedge.

Lysithea was watching Hubert with her pilfered binoculars, “He’s just standing there, I think he’s just watching a pegasus?”

Felix took the binoculars off her, “No way. He must know we’re watching. He has to be messing with us, no one likes pegasi that much.” Hubert had now turned towards them, “Oh shit, he’s coming this way.” Felix watched as something fell from Hubert’s pocket onto the ground. Hubert didn’t seem to notice.

Felix decided it was best if he went to retrieve whatever it was before Hubert noticed its absence. He passed the binoculars back to Lysithea, “Okay you stay here, I’m going to walk up to the chapel,” ordered Felix. “You can follow me in a few minutes.” It would look weird if they passed Hubert together.

Lysithea folded her arms and looked furious, “Excuse me, why are we splitting up?”

“Just trust me, meet me up there in a few minutes, we shouldn’t be walking together.”

“But then we might lose him,” hissed Lysithea.

“Then wait here and I’ll be right back!” Felix grew silent as he realized Hubert was right behind them and watching Felix with a particularly intense glare.

Hubert looked at Lysithea, then at Felix, and back at Lysithea, “Is he bothering you?”

Lysithea looked indignantly at Felix, “Yes, actually.”

Felix’s jaw dropped as she continued. Lysithea suddenly sounded incredibly helpless, “I asked Felix for help with my chores because _he owes me_ after I covered for him in the kitchens last week. I have to put back books in the library today, but I can’t possibly reach the top shelves. Now he’s saying he can’t reach them either! I guess I should have known, I mean look at this shrimp!” She looked sadly at Hubert, “Please Hubert, you’re tall enough, I would appreciate it very much if you would assist me.”

Hubert sighed, “Alright, I was going up there anyway.”

“Wonderful!” Exclaimed Lysithea. She scowled at Felix, “See, now you have plenty of time to run back to your room and grab that thing you needed.” She winked at him, “You won’t even have to be embarrassed because I’m sure it’s _totally empty_ on the 2nd floor dorm right about now.” She turned to Hubert and in a hushed tone, “Felix has been training so hard that he’s given himself hemorrhoids and Manuela prescribed this very smelly poultice -”

“Enough!” Shouted Felix in exasperation. She had just cleverly given him the opportunity to break into Hubert’s room, but first he wanted to get whatever Hubert had dropped on the ground.

“Alright then, see you later,” said Lysithea cheerfully as she took Hubert by the arm and marched him towards the library.

Felix waited until they were out of sight to dart down the bridge. He found a damp handkerchief embroidered with Hubert’s name on the ground. “Gross,” he whispered as he picked it up. He thought about what Lysithea had done earlier and smelled it, feeling almost lightheaded at the terrible scent. He wondered what the hell Hubert had been doing with such a thing. Felix briefly wondered if Lysithea was in danger, however he thought he’d be in bigger danger from her if he didn’t at least try to scope out Hubert’s room.

***

Felix had never picked a lock before and he was discovering he had no budding talent for it. He froze as he heard a door opening down the hall.

“Felix?” Ashe was staring at him in confusion. “That’s, that’s Hubert’s room.”

“Hey Ashe,” said Felix attempting to sound cool. He gave up on trying to find a cover story almost immediately, “Uh, yeah, I’m trying to break into it.”

Ashe stared at Felix with disappointment, “Why?”

“Because he,” Felix paused trying to think of something that Ashe would find believable. “He borrowed one of Annette’s books ages ago and won’t give it back now that she needs it for an assignment. I offered to get it back, but he’s not here.”

“Oh, well, if it’s Annette’s book,” said Ashe as he looked up and down the hall. He nudged Felix out of the way and slipped a small set of tools out of his sleeve. To Felix’s surprise Ashe picked the lock in no time.

The door creaked open. Felix half expected a booby trap to be triggered but the room was still. He poked his head in and was surprised by the scant amount of belongings in Hubert’s room. It was extremely clean, and not very personal at all.

“I don’t see any books,” said Ashe with surprise. “Huh, Hubert always struck me as someone who enjoys reading. Are you sure he didn’t give back Annette’s book? Maybe she misplaced it.”

“Eh, no she was pretty sure he was keeping it for himself,” lied Felix as he went over to the wardrobe. Hubert’s clothes were neatly stacked and hung inside. Yet buried in the corner was something big. Felix pulled it out to reveal the long beaked mask typically worn by a dark mage. Even if he wasn’t the Death Knight, Hubert was clearly into some bad shit.

Ashe’s big eyes managed to get wider, “That’s creepy.” He swallowed uneasily, “But, maybe it was a gift! Perhaps it would be rude to get rid of it.”

Felix felt a sinking in his stomach as he sniffed the mask, _sulfur_. “Hey Ashe, I’m going to be a couple more minutes, do you think you could keep watch for me?”

“Sure thing,” said Ashe seeming eager to get out of Hubert’s room.

Felix returned the mask and went over to the desk. He rifled through the drawers which appeared to be mostly filled with homework assignments. Felix sifted through the papers and felt something heavy near the bottom of the drawer. Felix pulled free a weighty key with an intricate design emblazoned on its head. Felix looked around for locks to be opened but none were particularly apparent. He looked closely at the key and realized that the symbol engraved on it was very similar to Hubert’s tattoo. Felix pocketed it and turned to the bed. He started to check beneath the mattress for letters. The only surprising thing was a stuffed pegasus hidden behind Hubert’s pillow. Felix picked up the doll dubiously; it was kind of dingy and clearly very old and well loved.

From out in the hall he heard Ashe practically yell, “Oh hey Edelgard!”

Felix spun around to face the imperial princess staring at him. She looked incredibly upset, “What are you doing?”

“Uh,” managed Felix as Ashe started to try to explain the fake story about the book.

Edelgard marched in and snatched the stuffed pegasus back. She held onto it protectively while looking at Felix with a fearsome anger behind her eyes, “Who do you think you are?”

For a few seconds, Felix failed to find his voice. He felt the weight of her scrutiny, “It was for a prank! Ashe didn’t know, he just thought he was helping me get a book back.”

“A prank?” Demanded Edelgard incredulously as if she had never heard the word prank before.

“You know, for the Battle of the Eagle and the Lion, the houses prank each other leading up to it,” said Felix. He felt pretty good about coming up with the story so quickly, “I mean everyone knows Claude is going to do something really crazy, but Sylvain and I thought we could get Hubert.”

“Get out,” ordered Edelgard.

Felix didn’t need to be told twice. He and Ashe practically sprinted from the dormitory. Ashe gave Felix a very disappointed look when they were finally in the clear, “A prank, seriously? I would have never helped if I had known you just wanted to be cruel.”

“Cruel? It’s _Hubert_,” said Felix.

“All the more reason we shouldn’t,” said Ashe. He sighed, “I suggest we prank Caspar instead, he would find it amusing. I think Hubert would just be hurt.” Ashe looked at one of the passing monastery cats, “I have an idea -”

“Save it,” said Felix. He now had to deal with the fact that Edelgard was going to tell Hubert that Felix had broken into his room, and he was surely going to notice his ornate key was missing. Felix massaged his face and contemplated what to do. “I’ve got to get to the library.”

“Oh okay, well I’ll get started on pranking Caspar, I’ll fill you in at dinner,” said Ashe cheerfully as Felix fled.


	4. We caught him! Now what do we do with him?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids get angsty and stabby.

Felix caught his breath as he spied on Lysithea and Hubert chatting as they put back books. Felix had no hope of catching her attention without also alerting Hubert to his presence. He sure hoped she knew warp as he took the noxious handkerchief from his pocket and came up behind Hubert.

Hubert jerked back as Felix tried to smother him. Hubert deftly pulled Felix’s arm away and looked at him with utter confusion.

“Shit,” whispered Felix as he realized the odors had no effect.

“What are you doing?” demanded Hubert, still holding tightly to Felix’s wrist.

Felix didn’t have a chance to respond as Lysithea darted up onto a chair to smack Hubert hard in the back of the head with a particularly weighty tome. He crumpled to the floor, momentarily disabled.

“Warp us now,” hissed Felix.

A feeling of cold rushed over him as Felix looked into an abandoned room. The room was still, as if it had been closed up many years ago. Dusty sheets covered pews and a pulpit. The afternoon sun came in through the stain glass windows casting long colorful shadows around the room.

“Where did you take us?” Felix’s eyes traced around the room looking for the doors.

“The chapel in the sealed forest.” She frowned and pointed to some relatively fresh footprints in the settled dust, “Someone else has been here recently.”

Felix didn’t have time to consider who else might be sneaking into the abandoned holy place. Hubert had been hit pretty hard with the book, but he wouldn’t be passed out for long. “We have to tie him up,” said Felix. Lysithea quickly dumped the contents of her bag out onto the floor desperately searching for some rope to secure Hubert. She tossed it to Felix and he tied Hubert’s hands behind his back. Lysithea gagged Hubert for good measure.

It was awkward to move him; Felix hadn’t really considered how much bigger Hubert was than the two of them and how hard it was going to be to actually keep him restrained. Hubert’s eyes were moving beneath his eyelids and his body was shifting around a bit. Felix forced the mage upright and leaned him against a column. They retreated to hide behind a pew to discuss the new developments in their case. Lysithea pulled out her notebook and began recording more notes.

“What the hell were you trying back there?” Lysithia demanded in a shrill whisper. “I had him talking, and then _boom_, out of nowhere I was having to fix your mess!”

“I got caught rummaging through his stuff by Edelgard,” said Felix.

“Oh, that’s not good,” whispered the tiny mage. She tapped her pencil against her lips. “Well, I hope no one saw us in the library. We’re missing lunch, if we miss dinner too, people will start to be suspicious.”

“When I was in his room I found a dark mage mask, and this,” he passed her the key.

She ran her fingers over the head of the key looking rather irate. “What does it open?”

“I didn’t find anything,” said Felix with disappointment. Lysithea gently made a transfer of the symbol into her notebook.

Felix could see that Hubert was stirring. Felix alerted Lysithea with a finger over his lips. He whispered, “I think he’s awake.”

Lysithea pulled the hunting knife out, “Good. I want to see this tattoo.” Her magenta eyes were burning with rage.

Hubert didn’t move as Felix approached but his stare was intense. Felix started to unbutton the uniform when Lysithea pushed him aside, “I don’t have time for this,” She slid her knife under the buttons. They pinged to the floor as Hubert began to protest through his gag. She smiled as she cut open his undershirt.

The tattoo covered the left side of Hubert’s chest and resembled a magic circle with a strange wreath around it. It wasn’t quite in a style like anything Felix had ever seen before, but Lysithea seemed to know exactly what it was. The scars were equally weird. Up close there was one big one low on Hubert’s abdomen that vaguely resembled a dark spell circle. Lysithea pressed her hand against it, “There’s something under his skin.” Hubert tried to move his legs to shoo her away but she was having none of it. Lysithea perched herself in Hubert’s lap and held her knife very close to his face, “Well, well, well, what do we have here? A dark mage all on his own; you’re not as scary when you don’t fly with your murder of crows.”

Felix hesitantly pulled the gag down from Hubert’s mouth.

“What the hell is going on here,” demanded Hubert. Any shred of civility had left his words, leaving only ice.

Lysithea practically pounced to press her knife against the tattoo, “Shut up, I’ll ask the questions here.”

“Woah slow down,” said Felix as she began to carve into him.

“Stay out of this kingdom boy,” snapped Lysithea. Her attention to Hubert never wavered. She had cut the tattoo in half, and blood was freely flowing down Hubert’s chest. She then traced down to graze the knife along the complex scar on his abdomen, “What is this?”

Hubert had been unsettlingly quiet as she cut him. His eyes traced down to where her knife was perilously resting beneath his belly button. “A dark seal,” whispered Hubert. “But I think you knew that already.”

Lysithea’s nostrils flared. She gestured to the bloody tattoo, “When did you join them?”

Hubert seemed annoyed to be associated with whatever Lysithea was referring to. “I was initiated following the insurrection.” Felix wished he knew what the hell they were talking about.

Lysithea paused with her knife. “What do you do for them?”

Hubert’s eyes closed for a moment and he swallowed. When his eyes opened his face had become static and emotionless. He stared at her silently, unwilling to speak.

Lysithea moved the knife towards Hubert’s throat, “I asked you a question.” Felix was starting to sweat as he watched her practically shaving Hubert’s throat.

“For them? I don’t do anything for _them_,” seethed Hubert. “I do what I do for Lady Edelgard.”

“Following daddy’s orders I’m sure --” started Lysithea.

“Fuck my father,” whispered Hubert with a degree of patriarchal vitriol even Felix was impressed by.

“Liar,” hissed Lysithea.

Felix hooked his arms beneath Lysithea and hauled her off of their captive, “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

She looked back at him vexed but followed Felix back to their pew. “First, I’m taking this,” said Felix as he quickly took the bloody knife off of Lysithea and held it high above her head.

“What, why?” She jumped trying to snatch it back.

“Because I’m afraid you’re going to stab him,”

“He deserves it, probably,” said Lysithea with a nasty look back towards Hubert.

“Maybe we should just take him to Rhea and Seteth,” suggested Felix. Things had already escalated far beyond what he’d been expecting and they had reached a point where if they let Hubert go, there was no way he would not retaliate. Felix had heard rumors that Hubert was something of a fixer for Edelgard, but he’d never really believed them. However after finding the dark mage mask Felix was feeling much less confident.

“You might as well just kill me now,” said Hubert weakly from across the room. “You saw what they did with those western church prisoners.”

“I have questions,” hissed Lysithea angrily at Felix. “You’re not giving him to Rhea, not yet.” She started to pace, muttering to herself. Felix cautiously returned to stand by Hubert just in case Lysithea produced another weapon.

“You’ve never done this before,” said Hubert quietly. “You don’t have a plan, you don’t even know the questions you want to ask. Do you have an exit strategy?”

Felix glowered at Hubert but was feeling increasingly self conscious about the situation he and Lysithea had created.

“Here’s a question, are you the Death Knight?” Felix crossed his arms feeling pretty confident about getting the mage on that one.

Hubert looked up at him with confusion, “Are you serious? No I’m not the Death Knight you idiot.”

Felix bristled at being called an idiot, “Then what’s with the dark seal and the tattoo?”

Hubert stared at him and then looked at Lysithea. His lip twitched up into a callous grin, “She hasn’t told you anything useful has she? So you’re what, the muscle of this little operation? She got you hooked on that Death Knight bit so she could do the real investigation?”

Felix took out the knife to show Hubert he was serious, “Shut up.”

Hubert scoffed and didn’t look particularly threatened. “Strange that she chose you over someone strong like Raphael,” said Hubert. He bit his lip as if to contain a laugh. “Especially since brains are clearly not what she was going for.”

“Hey I noticed something was off about you first,” protested Felix.

Hubert rolled his eyes, “Yeah, you and the rest of the school.”

Felix frowned as he held up the suspicious handkerchief, “And who were you planning to use this on?”

Hubert shook with a surprised laugh, “That, that was for the new professor.”

Felix was confused, “You were going to kidnap the professor?”

“Hardly,” said Hubert. “Surely you’ve seen her always picking stuff up and trying to find its owner. I’ve been dropping weirder and weirder things to mess with her. That’s just a mix of Hilda’s worst perfumes.” He paused and seemed unimpressed with Felix, “I guess at least someone fell for it.”

Felix threw the damp cloth on the ground in frustration.

Hubert sighed as he pulled his legs up and rested his forehead against his knees.

“What are you doing?” asked Felix suspiciously.

“You hit me on the head with a book, I’m trying not to throw up,” said Hubert miserably with a muffled voice. “I think I have a concussion.”

“Lysithea did that,” corrected Felix. He knew he was on Hubert’s shit list for life at this point, but he might as well try to keep Lysithea at #1 and himself at #2.

Hubert pulled up his head long enough to give Felix a disgusted look, “You teamed up, you don’t get to pick and choose who’s held responsible for what.”

Eventually Lysithea stopped pacing to grab one of the cakes out of her bag. She jammed it into her face and when she was finished she seemed a little calmer. She came back over and kicked at Hubert’s foot to get his attention. “What do you know about Houses Hyrm and Ordelia?”

Hubert blinked at her. He wasn’t looking great by Felix’s estimation; Hubert was always pale but he was looking a little gray. “The emperor destroyed house Hyrm, and retaliated on your house. He gave them both over to certain _affiliates_ of the empire.”

“Do you know what they did there, to my family, to me?” Lysithea’s eyes were filled with anger and her voice sounded on the verge of tears.

Hubert studied her for a few moments and then looked down at his dark seal, “I think I have an idea of what they did to you. I’m sorry that you went through that.”

“Sorry?” Snapped Lysithea. “You’re sorry? You joined them!” Lysithea pulled the mysterious key from her pocket, “They wore these symbols, the same kind that’s on your chest.” She looked enraged as she used her magic to make the key white hot before pressing it into Hubert’s side, branding him.

Felix pulled her back again as she cast the key to the ground. She sobbed into his chest as Felix awkwardly hugged her, completely unsure of what was going on.

Hubert had his eyes squeezed shut as he grimaced. Felix stared down at him, “What does the key open?”

“You broke into my room to steal that,” whispered Hubert with a growing rage.

“Yeah, and I found your stuffed pegasus,” challenged Felix as if daring the mage to break free.

Hubert looked at him as if trying to will Felix into dying on the spot.

Felix frowned, “Really, this is what you get mad about? Not getting stabbed, branded? It’s the room?”

“You really think this is the first time I’ve been stabbed?” demanded Hubert as his rage intensified. He was practically shaking he was so angry, “That key doesn’t even belong to me.”

“Please,” scoffed Felix. “You can do better.”

“It’s not mine,” insisted Hubert. “There are worse people at this school than me. I took that key from one of them, and have been trying to find its lock.”

Lysithea broke free of Felix sat cross legged on the floor looking exhausted. “How many people like you are here?”

“I don’t appreciate being lumped in with them,” said Hubert, sounding honestly offended. “Their methods make me look like a saint.” He squirmed against his restraints. “The actors of this shadow group, I don’t know what to call them, are only aligned with the Empire as it suits them. They have their own goals, their own aims; I am working to uncover what they’re doing. While my actions may be reprehensible, I do them in the name of protecting Lady Edelgard.”

There was a long pause of silence. Hubert looked at the two of them, “So what are we doing here? Forgive my presumptuousness, but I take you two children aren’t exactly expert murderers.”

Felix had no idea what came next, “I think we have to take you to Rhea. If it’s true that you are a member of some weird cult with others at Garreg Mach, she needs to know.”

The color drained from Hubert’s face while Lysithea buried her face in her hands in frustration. “We’re not taking him to Rhea. He’ll sell me out.”

Hubert looked at her carefully, “You want answers, I want answers. If you think you can keep your emotions in check, maybe we should be working together.”

“Work with you?” Lysithea wiped her nose on her sleeve.

“You didn’t ask for what happened to you, I never asked for my dark seal, but here we are,” said Hubert. He looked down at where she had branded and sliced him, “I think you and I share a similar passionate hate.” He regarded Felix warily, “Perhaps all three of us share it.”

“How do we know you’re not just trying to get free so you can kill us?” demanded Felix.

“Kill you? I’m trying to _recruit_ you,” said Hubert. “Mostly Lysithea, but I suppose you’re in this now too.” Hubert paused and sighed, “You lost family in Duscar, right? I don’t have any proof yet, but I think the same group was involved there. I’m trying to find out more, and it would help to have someone familiar with the kingdom working with me.”

Felix drew in a sharp breath as he thought about Glenn. He had so many questions about Duscar, and now Hubert was dangling a chance at answers in front of him. It was likely he was being manipulated, by a small part of Felix wanted to believe Hubert.

“Can we have code names?” Asked Lysithea quietly.

Hubert smirked, “Sure.”

She nodded, “I’m in.” Felix folded his arms and didn’t say anything, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do.

The light was fading leaving the chapel increasingly dark. Felix sighed, it was time to make a decision about what to do with Hubert. He hardly trusted the mage, but he believed in Hubert’s honest fear of Rhea. As he struggled to make a decision, he could hear a commotion in the forest outside.

“Oh shit,” whispered Lysithea. “I think they found us.”

Hubert looked at the two of them intently, “Just follow my lead.”

Edelgard and Dimitri could be heard arguing outside. There was a pounding on the door. Felix barely had time to react when Dimitri entered the chapel with brute force.

“See I told you!” Shouted Edelgard. She walked in, axe in hand and went straight to Hubert. Lysithea jumped up and dodged out of Edelgard’s way to hide behind Claude. The princess set her weapon aside and held her vassal, checking his injuries. Her fingers traced over the blood on his chest and where Lysithea had branded him. “They’re torturing him.”

Felix felt Dimitri’s strong hands grab hold of him, “What possessed you?” The prince could barely finish his sentence he was so enraged.

Edelgard was untying Hubert and helping him up. He was a little shaky on his feet as he felt the back of his head where Lysithea has wailed on him with the book.

Claude appeared nonplussed as he took the scene in. He picked up the key and studied it before Edelgard plucked it from his hands. Claude looked at Hubert as if slowly committing in his appearance to memory, “I suppose we should take you to the infirmary.”

“I’m fine,” said Hubert stiffly as folded his arms to keep his shirts closed. He looked at Felix and Lysithea for a few seconds and then cleared his throat, “I’m afraid I’m the victim of my own prank that I was playing on the professor.” Felix felt Dimitri’s grip relax.

Edelgard looked up at Hubert incredulously, “Excuse me?”

“I’ve been leaving out increasingly alarming things for her to find, to see if she’d confront me about it. Unfortunately while the Professor took no issue with all my effects, Lysithea and Felix noticed and thought I had real ill intent,” explained Hubert. “They were attempting to interrogate me about it.”

“Felix broke into your room, Linhardt saw Lysithea knock you out with a book!” Edelgard was incensed. “They _branded_ you.”

Hubert winced, “It was an admirable attempt at an arrest.”

“It’s abduction and assault,” said Edelgard. Felix swore he could see a blood vessel pulsing with rage on the side of her head.

“I agree,” said Dimitri as his eyes traced around the room. “But if we take this to Seteth, Felix and Lysithea will surely be expelled for their conduct.”

Claude held up his hands, “If Hubert doesn’t want to pursue official punishment, maybe we should just settle this in house so to speak.”

Edelgard began to protest when Hubert gently touched her arm and gave her a knowing glance, “Lady Edelgard, please, if I may.” He cleared his throat, “I am willing to put this in the past if we can agree on a ceasefire of pranks.”

Claude sucked in a reluctant breath, “Maybe just pranks involving the three of you?”

“This wasn’t a prank!” insisted Edelgard. “I don’t understand why you’re protecting them. They could have killed you.”

Hubert gave a unimpressed glance at Felix and Lysithea, “That’s generous, they just maimed me a little.” He looked at Claude and Dimitri, “As house leaders, I respect your judgment of how to handle your students. I would appreciate it however if you kept this between those of us in this room. That is all I ask.”

Edelgard looked very mad but said nothing. Claude exchanged a glance with Dimitri, “I think that sounds perfectly reasonable.”

Hubert politely bowed, “Thank you.” He gestured towards the door and Edelgard reluctantly led the way out.

Dimitri let go of Felix, “What is wrong with you? You branded him?”

Felix blanched and pointed at Lysithea, “She did all that stuff. I was just watching.”

“You should have stopped her,” said Dimitri sounding exasperated. He looked at Felix as if he didn’t even know him any more. For the boar prince to stare at him as if he were the animal here was too much for Felix.

Claude looked down at Lysithea, “Any particular reason you were trying to kill Edelgard’s boyfriend?”

Lysithea crossed her arms and stayed silent.

“He’s not her boyfriend,” said Dimitri. “You shouldn’t spread rumors like that.”

Claude rolled his eyes, “Well I don’t know what it’s like for you and Dedue, but while a vassal can see their lord dressing, it doesn’t go the other way round. Believe me I wish it did, but Edelgard didn’t bat at eye at all those weird scars or his tattoo, she’s seen them before.”

“Those were, strange,” admitted Dimitri. He sighed, “But I suppose it fits with Vestra’s reputation.” He folded his arms and looked at the spilled contents of Lysithea’s bag with concern, “Claude, a word?”

While the two house leaders consulted on their punishment Lysithea passed Felix one of her tiny cakes. “What do you want to do now?” Her voice was quiet and defeated.

“I think we’re going to want to lay low for a bit,” said Felix. He didn’t normally like sweet things but he was starving so he tried the cake; it wasn’t half bad. “Maybe after the Battle of the Eagle and Lion we should try to talk to Hubert, together.”

“Sorry for dragging you into this,” whispered Lysithea.

“Uh I’m pretty sure I started this,” said Felix.

“No, you just walked into it,” said Lysithea. She smiled, “But I’m glad you did.”

Claude and Dimitri returned to them looking serious. “You’re on probation,” said Claude to Lysithea. “You’re going to return all the stuff you borrowed and no more interrogations, okay? If I catch you doing anything weird, or weirder than normal, I’ll get Manuela involved.”

Lysithea nodded. “I’m sorry, I took things too far.”

Dimitri folded his arms and looked grave. “Felix, there have been mounting complaints from our classmates about your behavior. The whole incident with Dorothea at the training grounds, and your general attitude has been scaring people.” He sighed, “You will be temporarily transferred to the Golden Deer —”

“What? No!” Felix couldn’t believe it.

“Claude has generously agreed to have you in his house for a month, then we’ll have a meeting with all the Blue Lions to decide whether or not you can come back,” said Dimitri.

“This is bullshit,” yelled Felix. “I’d rather be a Black Eagle than a stupid Golden Deer.”

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” said Claude under his breath.

Felix continued, “Fuck you, Dimitri, actually fuck all the Blue Lions. If you don’t want me around, I’ll leave!”

Dimitri shook his head with disappointment. Felix stormed out into the night leaving the stupid house leaders and Lysithea behind. He could hear her chasing after him, begging for him to wait. Felix just wanted to be alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Personal headcannon: dark seals are surgically implanted, which is why you get one every time you off the Death Knight in game 
> 
> Hubert's tattoo is based on a floor feature from the game's TWSITD map
> 
> The final chapter gives some resolution, and Hubert's point of view on these shenanigans


	5. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Black Eagle House disfunctionality gets a +2 stat increase

“You have a concussion,” said Edelgard with certainty as she gently felt the bump that had formed on the back of his head. “Maybe we should go to the infirmary.”

“No,” repeated Hubert. He was wary of what might happen if he was treated by Manuela. She was from the Empire originally, and he had seen her cozying up with Jeritza so there was a good chance she was already compromised by the slithers. If she was, and she reported back to them they might pull him from his position. If she wasn’t, but started to look too deeply into his many marks, there was a high risk he’d be turned over to Seteth for questioning.

Hubert had been attempting to keep as much distance between himself and Rhea’s right hand as possible since arriving, mundane detentions notwithstanding. No one seemed to know where Seteth had come from before arriving at Garreg Mach, and details about him were scarce. Lack of information meant unpredictability, and Hubert wasn’t interested in testing any hypotheses about him.

“At least let me take you to Linhardt,” requested Edelgard as they reached the dormitory area. It wasn’t so much an offer as much an order.

“Are we trusting him now?” Hubert was less than impressed with the son of the Minister of Domestic Affairs. Linhardt was as aloof as ever and content to do as he pleased with total disregard of assignment or consequence.

“I don’t think we have much choice at the moment,” said Edelgard. “You’re bleeding through your shirt, and if you won’t go to the infirmary we need to go to him.”

Hubert consented and Edelgard steered him towards Linhardt’s room. Hubert tensed up as he saw that Caspar was hanging out in Linhardt’s room; Hubert wanted as few eyes on him as possible.

“Holy shit,” exclaimed Caspar, “What happened to you?” He sprung up from his chair so that Hubert could sit down.

Linhardt’s eyes flashed over Hubert, “Felix and Lysithea did this? I honestly thought I was just having the most crazy dream in the library earlier.”

Caspar made a fist, “Felix was asking a lot of questions about you, I thought he was just, you know, being Felix and looking for a fight.” Caspar’s face fell, “I had no idea he was going to actually jump you.”

“It’s fine,” said Hubert wanting so very much to leave.

“It is not,” insisted Edelgard. She set her axe against Linhardt’s bed and struck her fist into her palm, “They attacked a member of the Black Eagles, we cannot let this stand.”

“Lady Edelgard,” started Hubert carefully. He wanted to keep her calm while still acknowledging her anger. “They’re immature children. I’m not sure the kind of retaliation you desire is entirely appropriate.” Linhardt started to check the back of his head. The magic brought slight relief but pain still lingered at the base of his skull. He hated to admit it but the two 'children' had really done a number on him. 

Edelgard’s nostrils flared and she looked at Caspar, “What do you think?”

“I, uh,” Caspar faltered.

“Please reconsider, this would just bring a great deal of attention to us,” said Hubert. He and Edelgard both knew that Caspar would always happily seek out a fight, but that didn’t make it alright to throw him into one. Edelgard seemed to think Caspar could be a useful general someday like his father, while Hubert found him to be little more than a well meaning idiot.

Edelgard crossed her arms, “If you expect me to continue to believe this was some sort of half baked prank-”

Linhardt interrupted her, “It will be easier for me to concentrate if you two weren’t arguing.”

Edelgard picked up her axe, “Fine. I’m going upstairs. Hubert, I’ll bring you back a clean shirt. None of you leave this room until I get back.” She stormed out.

Linhardt rolled his eyes, as he passed Hubert a clean cloth, “Shirt off, remove as much blood as you can.”

“So, uh, what the hell happened?” Caspar asked as he watched Hubert slide off his torn clothing. Hubert kicked himself for not grabbing the fallen buttons, now he was going to have to go all the way back to the sealed forest just to mend his uniform.

Hubert was surprised when Linhardt answered for him, “Hubert was helping Lysithea put away books when out of nowhere, Felix came up and tried to knock him out with some sort of rag. When that failed, Lysithea used the history of Fodlan to great effect. She then warped the three of them out of the library.” Linhardt carefully began to stitch the long cut across Hubert’s chest. Hubert wished Linhardt would hurry up and increase his white magic abilities so that the stitches weren’t required.

“And that was supposed to be a prank?” Caspar asked confused.

“Pranks are only as good as the people concocting them,” said Hubert as he closed his eyes and focused on the feeling of the needle passing in and out of his skin. His thoughts were slow thanks to the concussion, but he needed to put Caspar and Linhardt’s suspicions to rest, “They were trying to get a rise out of Lady Edelgard, and I dare say it worked.”

“That’s a shitty prank,” said Caspar as he crossed his arms. “When I see Felix next I’m gonna—”

“It was mostly Lysithea,” added Hubert as he recalled her intense stare. He wanted to know more about what she knew, but he appreciated that getting such information might take some finessing. The girl had proven herself explosive and Hubert did not wish to be burned again, literally or figuratively. As far as how Felix fit into things, Hubert was sure it stemmed from the run in at the sauna and nothing deeper. Unfortunately now Claude and Dimitri had also seen his scars; Hubert was less concerned about Dimitri, but Claude was notorious for trying to figure out puzzles. Hubert cursed himself for his carelessness, in the span of a couple days the number of other people who had seen what he had taken such great care to hide had gone from one to seven.

“But Lysithea seems so nice,” said Caspar with uncertainty.

“She’s not,” Hubert assured him.

“She’s curious,” said Linhardt as he finished with the stitches. “And complicated.” He gently touched the burned patch of skin on Hubert’s midsection. “And vengeful apparently.” Linhardt applied a salve to the burn, “You’re going to want to clean these and apply this daily, don’t let either injury get infected.”

“Thank you,” said Hubert as he pocketed the medicine. He looked at Caspar who was unfortunately studying Hubert’s scars. He folded his arms in an attempt to hide them, “What kind of questions was Felix asking?”

“He thinks your weird,” said Caspar shrugging. “I suppose he did ask if I thought you were dangerous.”

Hubert’s eyes flashed to Caspar, “What did you say?”

Caspar looked a bit embarrassed, “I told him you could be a dick.” He cracked his knuckles, “But I also told him that if anyone in our house needed help, you’d be there.”

Hubert was warmed by the sentiment even if he didn’t completely agree with the last part. He was relieved that Edelgard had returned, bringing with her the safety of a fresh shirt.

She turned her attention to Caspar and Linhardt, “What you’ve seen here is not to be discussed at all. This is a matter of Empire security.”

Linhardt and Caspar exchanged skeptical glances. Caspar raised his hand.

Edelgard stared at him for a few moments but he didn’t speak. She sighed and gave him permission to speak, “Yes Caspar?”

“I have a question,” announced Caspar. “What exactly did I see that I wasn’t supposed to?”

“My scars,” began Hubert, “Are a private family matter.” He neatly folded up his ruined shirts that he’d have to mend later. He hated having to clean out blood stains, but sometimes there was no helping it.

He followed Edelgard out of Linhardt’s room. Down the row of dorms, Byleth’s door was open and spilling light into the darkening courtyard. To Hubert’s grim amusement, and likely Edelgard’s horror, Byleth walked out with her arms around none other than Lysithea and Felix’s shoulders. Felix was wiping his eyes and Byleth could be heard telling them how happy she was to have them _both_ join the Black Eagle House.

Edelgard stopped in her tracks wide-eyed with disbelief. Hubert pursed his lips as he looked down at his irate liege, “Excellent, more _friends_. I hope they join my study group.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this was supposed to be a one-off, but I had so much fun writing it that there may be more ill advised adventures with these three in the future. 
> 
> Later, they pick code names based on dark magic spells:  
Lysithea = Banshee; Hubert = Death; Felix = Mire (which he's all moody about because he wanted to be called death!)


End file.
